66. Westvernonen 12

Fermentation
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1/5/2012 - Primary Fermentation (18.00 days at 80.0 F ending at 80.0 F)
1/23/2012 - Secondary Fermentation (3.00 days at 80.0 F ending at 60.0 F)
1/26/2012 - Tertiary Fermentation (3.00 days at 60.0 F ending at 36.0 F)

Do a separate boildown of about 0.75 gallons of first runnings into syrup, should be able to add back to boil kettle before boil gets rolling.

• Boiling down into syrup
  That means take .75 gallons of runnings from the mash into a separate (pref a big 3.5-5gal pot) and boil it down until so much has evaporate that it starts to burn and bubble. At this point it will look like syrup and you'll have less than a pint to pour into the kettle. It’s like what you do with strong scotch ales.
  I've done quads like this before at 30 SRM and it’s too light in color. 35 SRM or higher for sure.
  
  GENERAL PROCESS
  
  
• prepare 2 liter starter of yeast
  
• mash in about 18 lb of grain - add 22.77 quarts of water at 158.2 F, resulting in 149.0 F
  
• mash for 90 minutes
  
• fly sparge with 3.85 gal (15.4 quarts) water at 168.0 F
  
• collect 7.75 gallons
  
• take out about ¾ gallons of first runnings, boil it down to about a pint, and add it back to the kettle
  
• boil for 90 minutes, add hops and end up with 5.5 gallons
  
• add candi sugar at flameout
  
• chill wort to 65 F
  
• pitch starter yeast, wrap carboy with a blanket, or sleeping bag, and let it self-rise to about 82-83 F
  
• hold it there for about 5 days (primary fermentation) – may have to add external heat
  
• when S.G. is about 1.015 - 1.018, start to chill to 65 F (secondary fermentation)
  
• hold there until you hit terminal gravity at 1.012 (about 2 days)
  
• then leave it on the yeast for another week
  
• then rack into secondary and chill to 50 F for seven weeks to 60 days (additional fermentation)
  
• carbonate ale
  
• three ways to bottle condition:
  a) pressurize in keg
  
• pressurize keg to about 3.1 psi; bottle at about 3 psi
  b) use candi syrup and harvested yeast
  
• use yeast from previous krausen – add DME, put on stir plate, and decant just before adding to bucket
  
• use about 30 grams/gallon of Candi Syrup (D-180 is best) for total of 150 grams with a ½ cup of water
  
• aim for about 2.5 – 2.6 volumes CO2
  c) use yeast package and sugar
  
• generally, use ½ package of rehydrated yeast along with about 4 ounces (113 grams) of corn sugar (note – 5 ounces is too high for this style)
  
• yeast could be Nottingham (5 gm), Champagne yeast (Lalvin EC-1118), WLP530, or Safale US-05 (Champagne is probably the best)
  
  GRAIN
  
  
• use Dingemann’s pilsener and pale malts which is better than Castle
  
• the German Pilsener results in a slightly more bready flavour that lends well to the Westy 12 clone
  
• CSI – for the Westy we grind the grain at .0320” gap – this could be a little coarse, but it cuts down on husk dusting and some of the astringency – low astringency matches the style well
  
• CSI – this is now a Pils only Belgian quad – pale malt is not required
  
  HOPS
  
  
• use Brewer’s Gold for bittering rather than Northern Brewer
  
• it’s the actual bittering hop used for Westvletern 12
  
• for bittering hop, Brewer’s Gold ages well and retains some of its spicy character after 12 months in conditioning
  
• Northern Brewer is a little more floral and ages to “faintly noticeable” after 12 months
  
• Northern Brewer is likely the bittering hop used, but the IBU’s are probably higher than reported
  
• Poster – likely need 10-15% more hops than reported
  
  SYRUPS
  
  
• add candi syrup at flameout
  
• some add it 10 minutes before flameout
  
• D180 is the premium Belgian style candi syrup you would use in the Westy clones
  
• D-180 has a shelf life of 6 months (at 60F) – tested for longer than that
  
• D-90 was crafted to be used mainly in dubbles
  
• D-180 was designed to be used for Westvleteren 12 and Rochefort 10
  
  YEAST, YEAST STARTER AND PITCHING
  
  
• USE Westmalle yeast only:
  WLP530
  Wyeast 3787
  
• use a 2 liter starter (1.040 SG) on stir plate – give it two O2 infusions
  
• use servomyces for starter (yeast nutrient)
  
• rule of thumb – pitch yeast at about 1 million cells per ml per degree Plato
  
• best to pitch between 300 – 320 billion cells within 6-7 days
  
• a 2 L starter (with 150 billion cells) will create about 320 – 340 billion cells
  
• CSI – for a 2000 ml starter, we pitch 165 billion cells to end up at 340-350 billion cells
  
• CSI – pitch at 320-330 billion cells (used a 2000 ml starter seeded with 160 billion cells)
  
• CSI use a 200 ml starter seeded with 150 billion cells to give approx.. 320 billion cells
  
• CSI – we use a 4 L Erlenmeyer flask for yeast propagation and a 2” stir bar – we oxygenate our starters 2 times and keep it at a steady 72F during culture
  
  MASHING
  
  
• mash for 90 minutes at 148-150 F
  
• for single infusion, do not mash higher than 150 F (152 F is too high)
  
• 165 F is too warm for the sparge
  
• some say to sparge at 168 F
  
• CSI – mashing in the low end (148 F) and mashing out on the higher end (170 F) gets the best of both worlds for fermentability and head retention
  
• do not do a mashout
  
• sparge as normal to get your pre-boil volume
  
• mash ph – Westy does best between 5.3 – 5.5
  
• CSI – our efficiency is set for 76% or up to 78%
  
  BOILING DOWN INTO SYRUP
  
  
• add extra ¾ gallon of water in recipe for boiling down into syrup
  
• take about ¾ gallon (2.8 liters) of the first runnings from the mash into a separate pot (I prefer a big 3.5 gallon pot) and boil it down until it starts to burn and bubble foam up
  
• it will look like syrup and you will have less than a pint (0.5 liter)
  
• going too far is when it bubbles up so much that it starts to come out of your pot because it’s just so thick
  
• if you can shake the pot around and it still moves without leaving a sludge behind, then it’s not thick enough
  
• once you reduce it down big time (from 96 ounces > 12 ounces OR from 2.8 liters > 0.35 liters), transfer it to the main kettle and put some wort back in to deglaze the container to get all the syrup out
  
  FERMENTATION
  
  
• need to get fermentation up to 78 F minimum to get the high attenuation that defines this style
  
• a finishing gravity of 1.012 is to style
  
• a finishing gravity of 1.016 wouldn’t be too sweet, but 1.020 is too much
  
• use a blow-off tube and ferment in a large carboy – 7 or 8 US gallons
  
• use fermcap to control the blow off – 2 or 3 drops per gallon
  
• recommend getting a thermowell for your carboy – I use the 16 inch stainless steel one from “Brewer’s Hardware” (ID = .305"; OD = .375") – [the STC-1000 temperature controller probe has an end that is 1/4" thick, so .3" ID would work perfectly]
  
• can use a stick-on temp. gauge, but take into account that the temperature in the centre of the wort is likely 1-2 F higher than the sidewalls
  
• to warm bucket and hold at the warmer temperatures, can use a fermwrap or some kind of heater that you can wrap around the fermenter
  
• a brewbelt could cause the fermentation temperature to rise too fast, which could cause the yeast to get a little harsh
  
• an aquarium heater with the fermenter in a water bath is an effective solution for warming the fermenter
  
• if final gravity is too high, you can use a more attenuative yeast (which can eat more complex sugars), such as WY 3711
  
• let it free rise to 82 F, which will likely happen by the end of about 36 hours, and hold it there until you get a SG of 1.015 or so – then drop some until you reach a FG of 1.012 – give it another week on the yeast after that, then rack and age it
  
• for this beer, you want to be hitting at least 84% attenuation – the target attenuation is 86%
  
• saq has lately been fermenting it to 78-80 to push the yeast hard
  
• poster – at an ambient temperature of 68-70 F, my ale was chilled to 65 and self-rose to 80 F by the 36th hour – from there he strapped on a brew belt with the temperature controller set at 82 F
  
• poster – my room temperature is about 71 F and I usually get about 7 F degrees on top of that from fermentation alone – I had wrapped the carboy in a fairly heavy blanket at the start and hit +82 F
  
• make sure the temperature stays under 83 F
  
• saq – should rise from 68-82 F in 4-6 days – we set to peak at 80-81 F
  
• oxygenate wort once at start, once at 6 hours, and once just before chilling
  
• CSI – we ramp as evenly as possible from pitch to 79F over 7 days – it’s very active for the first 3-4 days
  
• for beers this big, oxygenate the ale slowly and well with pure O2 for 90 seconds or better
  
• CSI ramping from 63F to 79F works best for us
  
• don’t let the yeast escape during the violent blow off – have a sterile trap to capture the yeast
  
• CSI – ramping up should be done as evenly and incremental a rise as possible over 7 days – about 2.2 F rise daily
  
• CSI – the monks at St. Sixtus crash the Abt 12 for about 6 weeks to floc the yeast once the FG is reached
  
• CSI – I like to keep it at the top of the 70s and even up to 80F until it reaches 1 point above FG (1.013)
  
• CSI – we always rack to the secondary when the ale reaches 1.013 to slow the fermentation down
  
  AGING
  
  
• 8 months plus for aging is a bare minimum to begin to see some of the flavours peak
  
  BOTTLING/KEGGING
  
  Background
  
• can bottle from keg when it has sat and stabilized at about 3.1 volumes/CO2
  
• bottle when keg is set at about 3 psi
  
• use frozen bottles to reduce temperature shock and to keep foam down
  
• can also rack into glass carboy, let it sit for about 2 months, then pitch fresh yeast harvested from the primary fermentation and bottle with priming sugar
  
• make sure to add some fresh wort to the yeast and decant before using it for bottle conditioning
  
• the pitching rate for bottling – about equivalent to half a pouch of wyeast (resulting in roughly 50 – 75 billion cells) for a 5 gallon batch
  
• best to harvest yeast from the krausen – use a sanitized turkey baster and suck up the yeast from the middle of the krausen when it’s at its highest and most active – then store it in a small Mason jar in the fridge for later use – will have to add more wort to the yeast, put on stir plate, cool and decant before adding
  
• hold bottles at a modest temperature of about 75-78 F for 10-14 days for initial carbonation
  
• could take 3-6 weeks or much longer to carbonate properly
  
• category of beer – 18E Belgian Strong Dark
  
• for sterile yeast harvesting at high krausen, see Chris White and Jamil’s volume on “Yeast” for advice
  
• see calculator for calculating how much yeast to use for bottling – Page 103 of forum, Message 1025
  
• CSI – for priming, use 29 grams/gallon of Golden Candi Syrup (32 pppg) - corn sugar is about 46 pppg – that’s about 2.1 vol. CO2 using 20 grams/gallon of corn sugar – for this, standard bottles should be fine
  
• CSI - 320 grams/gallon of Candi Syrup at 68 F gives you about 2.3 volumes of CO2 – a good average
  
• priming with corn sugar is:
  30 grams/gallon candi sugar * (32 pppg candi sugar/46 pppg corn sugar)
  = 21 grams/gallon using corn sugar
  That is the same as 2.2 volumes CO2
  
• for bottling, the actual Westy’s are not over 2.7 volumes of CO2 – we bottle at 2.5 volumes in standard long necks
  
• I keg mine at 10 PSI
  
• the proper level of carbonation is about 2.5 volumes – using standard 12 oz. (350 ml) bottles should be fine
  
• CSI – the Westvletern 12 seems to be in the 2.5 – 2.6 volumes range, although it is reported to be higher
  
• Poster – as a general rule, I take a cup of sugar dissolved in about a cup of water and add it to a 5 gallon corny and bottle it from the corny – seems to carb correctly for my palate
  
• good priming calculator – see link Page 187, Message 1869 of forum
  
• at room temperature for 5 gallons to 2.5 volumes, they recommend 37 grams/gallon of Candi Syrup – we recommend 33 grams/gallon
  
• CSI – when we repitch for bottling I like to use 50-75 billion cells or so for 5 gallons – can save some from the primary
  Different Yeasts and Sugars Used
  
• for bottle conditioning, can use 40-41 grams/gallon of candi syrup (D180) – use another 1 liter stir plate pitch of a Westmalle culture from the original fermentation but decant before re-pitching
  
• one poster bottles with 5 grams of rehydrated Nottingham yeast and 5 ounces (142 grams) of dextrose
  
• one poster bottles with 5 grams of dry neutral ale yeast and dextrose to 2.7 volumes of CO2
  
• some posters recommend to use ½ package of champagne yeast for bottling
  
• champagne yeast will quickly settle to the bottom of the fermenter, so add it to the fermenter, and stir gently before bottling
  
• poster – for bottle priming, I advocate just using a packet of rehydrated champagne yeast which has been allowed to sit in your priming sugar for an hour or so – I’ve done this many times, even bottle conditioning a 16% ABV beer – it works well
  
• some posters use WLP530 yeast for bottling
  
• poster – rather than Champagne yeast, I used Safale US-05 ($4 in Canada)
  
• poster – I repitched with ½ pack of US05 and added 5.5 ounces (156 gm) of priming sugar – this should work out to 3.2 carb level – condition the bottles at 72-73 F – could take 3 weeks or more, even months
  
• poster – instead of using ½ packet of US-05, use Lalvin EC-1118 ($1 per 5 gm packet in US, $2.49 in Canada)) for beers 8-11% - it falls to the bottom of the bottling bucket fast, so give it a gentle stir before filling the first bottle and again a second stir mid-bottling
  
• you can use EC-1118 for all high ABV bottle conditioning – this is a Champagne yeast
  
• Poster – I used Wyeast 3787 (Trappist High Gravity)
  
• can use wine yeast to bottle condition – it can only ferment simple sugars and not the residual sugars in the beer
  
• can do a 500 ml stir plate repitch of WLP530 (per 5.25 gal) – use 29-30 gm/gallon syrup – usually Simplicity or CSI Golden - a 500 ml starter gets about 167 billion cells for bottle priming
  
• CSI – we use Westmalle for bottling – using Champagne yeast should also work
  
  Different Bottles to Use
  
• for bottles, can use 375/750 ml. Belgian crown bottles
  
• for higher carbing, use magnum or mini Champagne bottles
  
• CSI - we carb around 2.4 volumes in standard bottles without breakage
  
• volumes of 2.6 – 2.8 is fine for standard bottles
  
• CSI – most standard bottles reach their pressure limitation at about 2.9 volumes
  
• can use Champagne bottles which can withstand more pressure
  
• concern about using Grolsch bottles – the rubber gaskets might dry out if left for a year or so of aging, releasing pressure (not tested in practice)
  
• EZ-cap bottles are tested to around 120 psi at which time the washer pushes out from under the cap
  
  BOTTLE CONDITIONING BY CSI
  
  1) Boil 30 gm/gal D-180 for priming diluted 2:1 by volume with water for miscibility. For 5 gallons, this is 180 gm syrup and about ½ cup water.
  2) Cover and cool to room temperature.
  3) Open the new batch fermenter (concurrent brew) and collect ½ cup of top krausen with a sterile stainless steel measuring cup – a little over is fine.
  4) Stir in syrup and yeast to finished ale for priming – stir “gently”.
  5) Bottle. Should get perfect carbonation.
  
  NOTE: 1) yeast collected from another batch 12-18 hours into ferment;
  2) any of the syrups can be used for priming – not a great difference in final profile but noticeable.
  
  RE-YEASTING PROCEDURE BY POSTER
  
  
• yeasting dosing rate: 1 million cells/ml finished beer
  20.0e9 yeast cells/gm of dry yeast
  5.0 gal = 18,927 ml
  1.0e6 * X/18,927
  X = 0.95 grams of dry yeast
  Boil 4 oz. (118 ml) of spring water in a 4 quart (3.8 liters) measuring cup
  Chill to 80F or less.
  Sprinkle 1.9 gm dry yeast on water surface and cover with plastic wrap.
  Let it sit for 15 minutes.
  (Note: measure by weighing full package with top cut off, tare scale and add gradually and keep weighing until about – 1.9 gm)
  Stir yeast, pitch 50% of prepared yeast into bottling bucket during the transfer, discard the rest.